Podcasts about benji rogers

Nate chats with entrepreneur/technologist Benji Rogers. They talk about meeting years ago at Fergie's Pub, growing up in a family of music industry managers, getting into music, the true purpose of streaming, the CD-R and MP3 era, Bandcamp, content collapse, the give & take of technology, Substack, Sureel.AI and attribution, and how it has been received by the industry. Then, Benji hangs out for The Jawntlet!Benji's SubstackLark42Sureel.AIMarwood on Apple MusicSubscribe to the Y!TMJ Newsletter!

On this YMC Special Episode, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart have a conversation on AI with Benji Rogers from Sureel AI.   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

What lessons can be drawn from the post-October 7 era? Amid growing isolation and antisemitism, where do opportunities for hope and resilience lie for the Jewish people? In a compelling discussion, AJC CEO Ted Deutch and Bernard-Henri Lévy—renowned French philosopher, public intellectual, and author of Israel Alone—explore these critical questions. Guest-hosted by AJC Paris Director Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache, this conversation offers insight into the challenges Jewish communities face and the possibilities for a brighter future. Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus: with Hen Mazzig, Einat Admony, and more. People of the Pod:  What's Next for the Abraham Accords Under President Trump? Honoring Israel's Lone Soldiers This Thanksgiving: Celebrating Service and Sacrifice Away from Home The ICC Issues Arrest Warrants: What You Need to Know Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. __ Transcript of Conversation with Bernard-Henri Lévy and Ted Deutch: Manya Brachear Pashman: What lessons can be drawn from the post-October 7 era? Amid growing isolation and antisemitism, where do opportunities for hope and resilience lie for the Jewish people? I'm throwing it off to AJC Paris Director Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache to explore these critical questions. Anne-Sophie? Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you, Manya. Welcome everyone to today's special episode of People of the Pod. I'm sitting here in our office near the Eiffel Tower for a special and unique conversation between Ted Deutch AJC CEO and Bernard-Henri Lévy, one of the most, if not the most prominent French philosopher and public intellectuals. Bonjour. Bernard-Henri Lévy:  Bonjour. Hello. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Today, we will speak about loneliness, the loneliness of the Jewish people in Israel, the explosion of antisemitism in Europe and the United States, the attacks on Israel from multiple fronts since October 7. We will also speak about the loneliness of Western democracies, more broadly, the consequences of the US elections and the future for Ukraine and the European continent.  Bernard-Henri Lévy:, you've recently come back from a tour in the United States where you presented your latest book titled Israel Alone. Ted, you've just arrived in Europe to sound again the alarm on the situation of Jewish communities on this continent after the shocking assault on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam. Israel alone, the diaspora alone, actually the Jewish people, or Am Yisrael alone. As if Israel and Jews all over the world have merged this year over a common sense of loneliness.  So I ask the question to both of you, are we alone? Bernard, let's start with you. Bernard-Henri Lévy:  I am back from a campus tour in the United States of America. I went in USC, in UCLA, in Columbia, in Ohio, University in Michigan. I was in many places, and in these places, in the campuses, it's not even a question. The loneliness is terrible. You have Jewish students, brave, resilient, who have to face every day humiliation, provocations, attacks, sometimes physical attacks. And who feel that, for the first time, the country in the world, America, which was supposed to be immune to antisemitism. You know, we knew about antisemitism in Europe. We knew about antisemitism in the rest of the world.  But in America, they discovered that when they are attacked, of course there is support. But not always from their teachers, not always from the boards of the universities, and not always from the public opinion. And what they are discovering today in America is that, they are protected, of course, but not as it was before unconditionally. Jews in America and in Europe are supposed to be protected unconditionally.  This is minimum. Minimum in France, since French Revolution, in America, since the Mayflower. For the first time, there are conditions. If you are a right wing guy, you say, I protect you if you vote for me. If you don't vote, you will be guilty of my loss, and you will be, and the state will disappear in a few years. So you will be no longer protected. You are protected under the condition that you endorse me. On the left. You have people on the left wing side, people who say you are protected under condition that you don't support Israel, under condition that you take your distance with Zionism, under condition that you pay tribute to the new dark side who say that Netanyahu is a genocide criminal and so on. So what I feel, and not only my feeling, is the feeling of most of the students and sometimes teachers whom I met in this new situation of conditional security and support, and this is what loneliness means in America.  Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you, Bernard. How about you, Ted? Ted Deutch:  Well, it's interesting. First of all, thank you Anne-Sophie, and Bernard, it's an honor to be in conversation with you. It's interesting to hear you talk about America. Your observations track very closely. The comments that I've heard since being in Europe from students in the UK, and from students here who, speaking about America, tell me that their conclusion is that whatever the challenges they face here and the challenges are real, that they feel fortunate to be in university in Europe rather than in the United States.  But the point that you make that's so important everywhere, is this sense that it's not only the Jewish community that expects to have unconditional security. For the Jewish community now, it feels as if expecting that security, the freedom to be able on college campuses, the freedom to be able to pursue their studies and grow intellectually and have different experiences.  That when that security is compromised, by those who wish to exclude Jews because they support Israel, for those who wish to tag every Jewish student as a genocidal baby killer, that when those positions are taken, it's the loneliness stems from the fact that they're not hearing from the broader community, how unacceptable that behavior is. That it's become too easy for others to, even if they're not joining in, to simply shrug their shoulders and look the other way, when what's happening to Jewish students is not just about Jewish students, but is fundamentally about democracy and values and the way of life in the U.S. and in Europe. Bernard-Henri Lévy:  Of course, except that the new thing in America, which is not bad, is that every minority has the right to be protected. Every community, every minority has the right to have a safe space and so on. There is one minority who does not have the same rights. The only minority who is not safe in America, whose safety is not granted, is the Jewish one. And this is a scandal. You know, we could live in a sort of general jungle. Okay, Jews would be like the others, but it is not the case. Since the political correctness and so on, every minority is safe except the Jewish one. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  So if we are alone, if American Jewish students feel alone, as European Jewish students, we are probably not the only one to feel that way, right? I turn over to you, Mr. Levy, and go to another subject.  Since day one of the Russian invasion, and even before that, you have been a forceful advocate for a steadfast European and American support for Ukraine.  Is Ukraine alone today? And will it be even more during America's second Trump administration? Bernard-Henri Lévy:  I've been an advocate of Ukraine, absolutely and I really believe that the freedom for liberty, the battle for liberty, the battle for freedom today, is waged on two front lines. For the moment, it might be more, but Israel and Ukraine. I wish to make that very clear, it is the same battle. They are the same stakes, the same values, and the same enemy.  I'm not sure that every Ukrainian, every Jew, knows that they have the same enemy. The axis between Iran, Putin, China, more and more, Turkey, and the same axis of authorisation countries. So it is the same battle.  The Ukrainians have not been exactly alone. They have been supported in the last two years and half, but in a strange way, not enough. The chancellery, the West, spoke about an incremental support. Incremental support meant exactly what is not enough, what is necessary for them not to lose, but not to win. This is what I saw on the ground.  I made three documentaries in Ukraine on the field, and I could elaborate on that a lot, precisely, concretely in every spot, every trench they have exactly what is needed for the line not to be broken, but not to win. Now we enter in a new in a new moment, a new moment of uncertainty in America and in Europe, with the rise of populism. Which means the rise of parties who say: Who cares about Ukraine, who don't understand that the support of Ukraine, as the support of Israel, is a question of national interest, a question of national security for us, too. The Ukrainian ladies and gentlemen, who fight in Ukraine, they fight for the liberty. They fight for ours, French, yours, American. And we might enter in a new moment. It's not sure, because history has more imagination than the man, than mankind. So we can have surprises. But for the moment, I am really anxious on this front line too, yes. Ted Deutch:  There are additional connections too, between what's happening in Ukraine and what's happening in Israel, and clearly the fact that Iranian killer drones are being used by Russia to kill Europeans should be an alarming enough fact that jars all of us into action. But the point that you make, that I think is so important Bernard, is that Israel has in many ways, faced the same response, except with a much tighter window than Ukraine did.  Israel was allowed to respond to the attacks of October 7, that for those few days after the World understood the horrific nature of the slaughter, the rape, and the babies burning, the terrible, terrible mayhem, and recognize that Israel had a right to respond, but as with Ukraine, only to a point Bernard-Henri Lévy:  Even to a point, I'm not sure. Ted Deutch:  But then that point ended. It was limited. They could take that response. But now we've moved to the point where, just like those students on campus and in so many places around the world, where only the Jews are excluded, that's a natural line from the geopolitical issues, where only Israel is the country that can't respond in self defense. Only Israel is the country that doesn't have the right to exist. Only a Jewish state is the one state that should be dismantled. That's another reason, how these are, another way they are all tied together. Bernard-Henri Lévy:  Don't forget that just a few days after Israel started to retaliate. We heard from everywhere in the West, and United Nations, calls for cease fire, call for negotiation, call for de-escalation. Hezbollah shell Israel for one year. We never heard one responsible of the UN called Hezbollah for not escalating. The day Israel started to reply and retaliate after one year of being bombed, immediately take care to escalation. Please keep down. Please keep cool, etc, etc.  So situation of Israel is a unique case, and again, if you have a little memory, I remember the battle for Mosul. I made a film about that. I remember the battle against the Taliban in 2001 nobody asked the West to make compromise with ISIS and with al-Qaeda, which are the cousins of Hamas. Nobody asked the West not to enter here or there. No one outside the ground said, Okay, you can enter in Mazar-I-Sharif in Afghanistan, but you cannot enter in Kandahar.  Or you can enter in the western part of Mosul. But be careful. Nobody had even this idea this happened only for Israel. And remember Joe by then asking the Prime Minister of Israel about Rafa? Don't, don't, don't. At the end of the day, he's not always right and he's often wrong, but the Prime Minister was right to enter into Rafa for obvious reasons, which we all know now. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Ted, let me come back to you more specifically on the US. At AJC, we support democracy. This is in our DNA. Since the organization was founded 1906 we've been strong supporters of the Transatlantic Partnership since day one. We believe in the alliance of democracies in the defense of our common values. And you know here, there's a lot of anxiety about Donald Trump's re-election. So what is your take on the U.S. elections' consequences for Europe, for transatlantic relations? Ted Deutch: I've been coming to Europe for years, as I did as an elected official. Now in this capacity there is that our friends in Europe are always rightly focused on US policy and engaging the level of commitment the US makes to Europe. The election of Donald Trump, this isn't a new moment. There is history. And for four years in the last administration, the focus that the President had on questioning the ties to Europe and questioning NATO and questioning the commitment that has been so central to the transatlantic relationship rightfully put much of Europe on edge. Now, as the President will come back into power, there is this question of Ukraine and the different opinions that the President is hearing. In one side, in one ear, he's hearing from traditional conservative voices in the United States who are telling him that the US has a crucial role to play, that support for Ukraine is not just as we've been discussing, not just in the best interest of Ukraine, but that it relates directly back to the United States, to Europe. It actually will, they tell him, rightly so, I submit, that US involvement and continued support for Ukraine will help to prevent further war across the continent. In the other ear, however, he's hearing from the America first crowd that thinks that America should recognize that the ocean protects us, and we should withdraw from the world. And the best place to start is Ukraine, and that means turning our back on the brave Ukrainians who have fought so nobly against Russia. That's what he's hearing. It's imperative that, starting this weekend, when he is here at Notre Dame, that he hears and sees and is reminded of not just the importance of the transatlantic relationship, but why it's important, and why that relationship is impacted so directly by what's happening in Ukraine, and the need to continue to focus on Ukraine and to support NATO. And to recognize that with all of the challenges, when there is an opportunity for American leadership to bring together traditional allies, that should be the easiest form of leadership for the President to take. It's still an open question, however, as to whether that's the approach that you will take.  Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you, Ted.  Let me sum it up, our conversation for a minute. We said that the Jewish people feels alone, but we said that we are not the only ones. Didn't you feel that on that lonely road of this year, we've also never felt as strong as who we are, both our Jewishness. A French intellectual I know, Bernard Levy would say our Jewish being, être juif, and Jewish unity. Are they the best answers to overcome our loneliness? Let's start with our philosopher. Bernard-Henri Lévy:  I don't believe only in Jewish unity. I believe in Jewish strength. And in one of my previous books, the genius of religion, I spoke about about that Jewish strength, not military strength in Israel, but spiritual strength, and I think that this strength is not behaving so bad. I told you about the campuses. I told you the dark side.  But there is also the bright side, the fact that the students stand firm. They stand by themselves, by their position. They are proud Jews in the campuses. In Israel, come on. Israel is facing the most difficult war and the most terrible war of its history. We know all the previous wars, and alas, I have the age to have known personally and directly, a lot of them since 1960s about this war with terrorists embedded in the civilians, with the most powerful terrorist army in the world on the north, with seven fronts open with Houthis sending missiles and so on. Israel never saw that.  So the people of Israel, the young girls and young boys, the fathers, even the old men of Israel, who enlist, who are on the front, who fight bravely. They do a job that their grandfathers never had to do. So, resilience. Also in Israel. The most sophisticated, the most difficult, the most difficult to win war, they are winning it. And in Europe, I see, as I never saw, a movement of resistance and refusal to bow in front of the antisemite, which I never saw to this extent in my long life. You have groups today in France, for example, who really react every day, who post videos every day.  Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Some are in this room.  Bernard-Henri Lévy:  Some are in this room. Pirrout is in this room, for example, every day about the so called unbound France. Mélenchon, who is a real antisemite as you know, they publish the truth. They don't let any infamy pass without reacting, and this again, is new, not completely new, but I never saw that to this extent.  Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you, Rene. How about you Ted, what do you think?  Ted Deutch:  more important than ever that as Jews, as Jewish community, As Zionists, that we don't allow our opponents to define what's happening, that the response is never to to feel defensive, that the response. Is to be bold, boldly Jewish, boldly Zionist, unapologetically Zionist. To to do exactly what those students are doing across the United States, that I've seen, the students here who have that I that I've met with that in Europe, a student in in London a few days ago, said to me, she said, when someone yells at me, when they when they scream at me and accuse me of genocide, she said it only makes me want to get a bigger Magen David. The person that that stood up at a meeting in New York a few months ago who told me that, before announced in front of a big crowd that that for years, she's been involved in all of these different organizations in her community to to help feed the hungry and to help kids to read, and all these worthy causes. She said, since October 7, she said, I am all Jewish all the time, and I want everyone to know it the and Israel is perhaps the best example of this. It's impossible to imagine the kind of resilience that we see from Israelis. The taxi driver that I had in Israel. He said, This is so difficult for all of us. We've all known people. We've lost people. It's affected all of us, but we're just never going to give up, because our history doesn't allow it. We have prevailed as a people for 1000s of years and have gotten stronger every single time. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you, Ted. I can keep thinking about this overwhelming challenge that we face as the Jewish people today, which seems to confine us to solitude. Anyway, Jews and Israel are attacked with alternative truths, false narratives. We've witnessed how international justice, our common, universal values, have been turned upside down in the Jewish tradition, we say that we have a mission to repair the world, Tikkun Olam. But how can we make sure to recreate the common world in the first place? Bernard-Henri Lévy:  It's on process number one, continue to try to repair the world, I remind you, and you know that, and Simone Rodan knows it also, in many occurrences, in many situations of the last 30 years when real genocides happened. Real genocide, not imaginary. Real one. In Rwanda, in Srebrenica, in Darfur, when I met with in Chad, with Simone, and so on. The first whistleblowers, the first to tell the world that something terrible was happening, were not exactly Jews, but were ladies and men who had in their hearts the memory of the Shoah. And the flame of Yad Vashem. That's a fact, and therefore they reacted and what could be repaired. They contributed to repair it. Number one.  Second observation, about what Ted said, there is in Europe now, since many years, a tendency to step out, to give up to and to go to Israel. Not only by love of Zionism, but thinking that this is not a safe place any longer for them. I tell you, this tendency starts to be reversed now you have more and more Jews in Europe who say, no, no, no, no. We built this country. We are among the authors of the French social contract.  For example, we will not leave it to those illiterate morons who try to push us away. And this is a new thing. This reaction, this no of the Jews in Europe is something relatively new. And third little remark. 10 years ago in the States, I met a lot of young people who were embarrassed with Israel, who said we are liberal and there is Israel, and the two don't match really well. 10-15, years ago, I met a lot. Less and less today. You have more and more students in America who understand that Israel should be supported, not in spite of their liberal values. But because of their liberal values. And come on, this for a liberal, is a treasure, and it is unprecedented, and there is no example. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  How about you, Ted? How do you think we can overcome the challenge of those parallel realities we feel we live in? Ted Deutch:  Those students, and I think broadly the Jewish community, after October 7, came to realize that as Hamas terrorists rolled into southern Israel, they made no distinctions about the politics of the Israelis. That great irony, of course, is that the peaceniks, or the brunt of these attacks, living along the southern edge of Israel by Gaza, they didn't make determinations on who to kill based on how they practiced, what their politics were, how they felt about Bibi.  And I think what the Jewish world, certainly it's true for young people that I talk to, came to realize is that connection between Israel and the Jewish people is not theoretical, that that ultimately, what's gone on for the past year is is an attack against Israel, Israel as the stand in for the Jewish people, and that defending Israel is really defending all of us. And I think they've come to understand that.  But going forward, I think what you described, Bernard, is new, this is what it means now to be an Or Lagoyim. This is what it means to be a light unto the nations. That in the face of all of these attacks, that Israeli democracy continues to thrive. That the conversation by those, ironically, the conversation that has attempted to demonize Israel by demonizing Bibi, has highlighted the fact that these protests have continued during the time of war. As you point out that this is this is unlike anything you would see, that what's permitted, the way democracy is thrives and is and is vibrant in Israel, is different than every place else, that this is a message that the world will see, that that the that in the face of these ongoing challenges, that the Jewish community stands not just against against these attacks against the Jews, but stands against what's happening In the streets of so many places in America. Where people march with Hezbollah flags, where they're openly supporting Hamas. It's going to take some time, but ultimately, because of the strong, because of the resilience, because of the strong, proud way that Jews are responding to this moment and to those protests, eventually, the world will realize that standing in support of Hamas terrorism is not just something that is dangerous to the Jews, but puts at risk the entire world. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you. I'm a Sephardic Jew, so I cannot just end this conversation speaking about loneliness. How about hope? Can we find some? Bernard-Henri Lévy:  I compare the situation of the Jews today to the situation in the time of my dad, for example, there are some change, for example, the Christians and the Catholic Church. 50 years ago, a huge cultural revolution in the world. It is the change of position of the Catholic Church on anti semitism. It was the Vatican Two Council and the Nostra aetate. It seems tiny, but it is huge revolution, and it consisted in a single word, one word, the Catholic Council of Vatican Two said Jews are no longer the fathers of the Christians, as it was said before, in the best of the case, they are the brothers of the Christians.  This is a huge revelation. Of course, Catholics are not always faithful to this commitment. And popes, and especially the pope of today do not remember well the message of his ancestor, but on the whole, we have among the Christians, among the Catholics in Europe and in. Real friends in America among the new evangelical I don't know if they are friends, but they are strong allies. Abraham agreements was again another big revolution which has been underestimated, and the fact that the Abraham agreements, alliance with Morocco, Emirates, Bahrain stands, in spite of the war on seven fronts. Is a proof. It is solid. It is an ironclad alliance, and it holds.  And this is a new event, and we have in the not only in the top of the state, but in the public opinions of the Muslim world. We have a lot of people who who start to be who are more and more numerous, to believe that enough is enough. Too much war, too much misunderstandings, too much hatred, and who are really eager to make the real peace, which is the peace of hearts and the peace of souls with their other brothers, who are the Jews. So yes, there are some reasons to be optimistic.  Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you very much, Bernard. Ted? Ted Deutch:  I don't think that we can ever give up hope. And optimism is necessary, and I think justified. The things Bernard talks about, I mean, at AJC, our focus on on building democracy, our focus on interreligious work, the work we've done with the Catholic Church around Nostra aetate, now 60 years old and and continuing to build the relationship our Muslim Jewish Advisory Council always looking for opportunities to to find those voices that are tired of all of the war. And in our office, in Abu Dhabi, we've, we've continued to go to the Gulf, to the Abraham Accord states, and beyond, even through this entire war, because there is the hope of of getting to a place where, where Israel is in a more normalized position in the region, which will then change the perception and push back against the lies that those who wish to to see a world without Israel continue to espouse.  All of that is hopeful, and we work toward it. But for me, the most hopeful thing to come from this moment is, AJC works around the world and because the Jewish community now understands how connected we all are as a result of the threats that we face, the opportunity to strengthen diaspora Jewry, to help people realize that the connections between the Jewish community in Paris and the Jewish community in Mexico City and the Jewish community in Buenos Aires in Chicago, in Miami and New York, that they're interrelated and that we don't have the luxury of viewing our challenges as unique in our countries.  By standing together, we're in a much, much stronger position, and we have to continue to build that. That's why AJC's Global Forum is always the most important part of the year for us, bringing together the Jewish community from around the world. That's why the antisemitism summit that we'll be doing here with the CRIF is going to be so critical to building those relationships. We have an opportunity coming out of this incredibly dark time to take the strength and the resolve that we feel and to and to channel it in ways that that will lead the Jewish community to places that a year ago seemed absolutely impossible to imagine. Those 101 hostages need to return home. We stand together calling for them to return home. We stand together in our support of Israel as it wages the seven-front war, and ultimately, we stand together as Jewish people. That's what gives me hope every day. Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache:  Thank you so much. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed last week's episode, be sure to tune in for the conversation between my colleague Benji Rogers, AJC's director for Middle East and North Africa initiatives, and Rob Greenway, director of the Allison center for national security at the Heritage Foundation, and former senior director for Middle Eastern and North African Affairs on the National Security Council, they discuss the opportunities and challenges President-elect Trump will face in the Middle East.

Fearless music-tech pioneer and serial entrepreneur Benji Rogers joins me for a wide-ranging discussion of how technology is transforming the world of music both for artists and fans - with a focus on NFTs (and Benji's contrarian skepticism ... he explains why), Artificial Intelligence (including automated song-writing), and democratized musicianship via new technology that requires no practice or training. Benji also answers questions in this live CREATV University Q&A session. Learn more about CREATV U at http://www.creatv.media/creatv-university and follow me (Peter) on Twitter @pcsathy

Morgan Hayduk & Andrew Batey are the co-founders and CEOs of Beatdapp, a startup solving a 4 billion dollar problem in the Music industry. Every year 15% of streams on DSPs go unaccounted for; Beatdapp is helping labels find these missing royalties. The company has been written about extensively in publications like Billboard, Music Business Worldwide and Music Row. It also has an A-list advisory board with industry legends like Joe Galante, Bryan Turner, Benji Rogers and the former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Beatdapp is a company of the future. Learn about it now. This podcast is from The Nashville Briefing

This episode features Carrie Lomas, a senior executive from the world of IT and Benji Rogers CEO of News Hero and from the music industry sharing their insights and experiences of leading at a senior level and their views on what needs to change to take the practice of leadership to the next level.

Techstination interview: NewsHero aims to create new journalism platform: co-founder Benji Rogers

In this episode we're talking to someone very special, who's done many things. Always looking ahead and always thinking outside the box. His name is Benji Rogers and he is the founder of Pledge Music, a board member of SAE - the renowned school for all thing music & video -, a serial investor and advisor in many music and tech companies, and the founder of the Dot Blockchain Music project! Benji was so kind to take the time to speak to us at Ludlow House in New York. The Dot Blockchain Music project is the attempt to create a global decentralized database for music rights, in the blockchain. I know that sounds very technical! But firstly, we all know how important trackable music rights are to make sure that artists get paid fairly; And Benji has good analogies to explain what the blockchain does. But on top of that, we also speak about the industry more generally and he tells about his approach to using platforms like Facebook to interact with fans - what he recommends you do and what you shouldn't. Please note that this interview was recorded a few month' back, so you might have heard that Benji has now left this company. But nothing we talk about has lost its relevancy. The DotBlockchainMusic project is something that feels like it should already have been created ages ago, because it's just fair to artist. Well it hasn't and Benji took on the task. I think he's a very inspiring person for all of us, challenging the status quo, and utilising the newest technologies to do so. Enjoy! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/musicinnovation/message

Guests James Graham - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-graham-73a39111/) - Twitter (https://twitter.com/bloqafella) Kevin Rutter - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-rutter-1b109235/) George Calle - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-calle-12043097/) Catherine Rutter - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemrutter/) - Twitter (https://twitter.com/breadandrutter) Music by bensound.com Links Sum41 (http://www.sum41.com/) Sophie Turner (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3849842/) REM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.E.M.) WYSIWIS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWIS) Royalty Ledger (https://guild1.co/royaltyledger/) GuildOne and R3 Join Forces to Provide Blockchain Technologies to Global Oil and Gas Companies Leveraging Amazon Web Services (https://guild1.co/2018/11/13/guildoner3aws/) Project on blockchain for good (https://guild1.co/2018/06/14/guildone-introduces-thunderbird-consensus-indigenous-rights-truth-reconciliation-on-blockchain/) Smart Contracts (https://www.r3.com/blog/what-is-a-smart-contract/) Episode with Benji Rogers (https://life-in-the-fast-chain.fireside.fm/8) Smart Property - Discussed with Mike Hearn (https://life-in-the-fast-chain.fireside.fm/11-5) Blockchain Digital (https://www.blockchaindigital.co.uk/) R3 Ecosystem (https://www.r3.com/ecosystem/) Energy Block Exchange (EBX) (https://guild1.co/energy-block-exchange-2/) James Gosling, founder of Java (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gosling) Project Jasper (https://www.coindesk.com/project-jasper-lessons-bank-of-canada-blockchain-project) Corda flows (https://docs.corda.net/key-concepts-flows.html) https://www.r3.com/pitch-competition/ (https://www.r3.com/pitch-competition/) R3 Ledger sign up (https://info.r3.com/email-preferences-new-prospects) CordaCon (www.r3.com/cordacon) Elphi Shownotes 00:00 - 33:12 - James Graham 33:12 - 40:46 - Kevin Rutter and George Calle

We speak with Benji Rogers, a musician and technologist, now based out of New York and the co-founder of the dotBlockchain Media Project. We discuss how blockchain technology could revolutionize the music industry and how he's on a mission to change things. Full show notes: https://thecoinoffering.com/podcast/s02/e05-benji-rogers/

To address the unique challenges facing artists releasing their work in the digital economy, Rogers also co-founded the Dot Blockchain Music Project, an attempt to create a decentralized global registry of music rights using blockchain technology that will overhaul the commercialization and movement of music online. A dedicated patron of arts and creativity in all its forms, Rogers’ work is rooted in a belief in the democratizing power of the internet; he will always be “loving your work.” Full video: https://youtu.be/1b7Akl-0XWg All about TNW Conference: https://tnw.to/conference

Info from the episode… Todd McDonald - Twitter (https://twitter.com/Mcdtv) - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddvmcdonald/) EOS (https://eos.io/) Microsoft Acquires Github (https://blog.github.com/2018-06-04-github-microsoft/) Microsoft (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/) Github (https://github.com/) Celebrities saying they will move to Canada (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3927506/Celebrities-promised-leave-Canada-decide-stay-just-coincidence-Trump-planning-tax-cuts.html) The Cost of Developers by Ben Thompson (https://stratechery.com/2018/the-cost-of-developers/) Stratechery (https://stratechery.com/) Apple announcements (https://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2018/) Corda (www.corda.net) dotBlockchain Media (http://dotblockchainmusic.com/) DotBC Recent announcement (https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/cardstack-and-dotbc-partner-to-find-a-music-and-media-rights-solution/) South by Southwest (https://www.sxsw.com/) Frank Abagnale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale) Catch Me if You Can movie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Me_If_You_Can) Frank Abagnale says all banks will move to blockchain (http://fortune.com/2018/05/29/frank-abagnale-blockchain-banks/) Howard Shultz leaves Starbucks (https://www.ccn.com/anti-bitcoin-pro-blockchain-howard-schultz-to-exit-starbucks-amid-rumors-hes-planning-a-presidential-run/) Starbucks (https://www.starbucks.com/) Pumpkin Spice Latte – A fad (https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/pumpkin-spice-latte) PSLCoin… coming soon? Benji Rogers LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjirogers/) Twitter (https://twitter.com/BenjiKRogers) LimeWire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimeWire) SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/) Virtual Reality (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality) Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5ITQQsnA7WJCEunqpxvnBm?si=Kh3eJn4VTy-TG5tzR3K_pw) iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/life-in-the-fast-chain-a-blockchain-podcast-from-r3/id1347747496?mt=2) Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAwTiDccvgD-TjiHQWFEjHA?view_as=subscriber) Catherine Rutter LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemrutter/) Twitter (https://twitter.com/breadandrutter) Music by bensound.com Show notes: 00:00-14:30 News Update with Todd McDonald 14:30-45:37 Blockchain and the Music Industry with Benji Rogers Special Guest: Todd McDonald.

This episode of The Indie Spotlight podcast features an interview with Benji Rogers, the founder of Pledge Music and dotBlockchain Media. We'll also hear some tunes from Griffin House and David Rothschild.

Music Biz 101 & More is the only radio show in America that focuses on the business side of the music & entertainment worlds. Hosted by William Paterson University's Dr. Stephen Marcone & Professor David Philp, the show airs live each Wednesday at 8pm on WPSC-FM, Brave New Radio. This episode, recorded on location in Nashville, features special guest Benji Rogers, who founded DotBlockChainMedia and Pledge Music! Don't know what the blockchain is? Listen in and find out! Learn all about the blockchain and what it means for the future of the Music Industry! Enjoy the talk, listener tweets, and see what you can get out of this. Like what you hear? Tweet us anytime: twitter.com/MusicBiz101WP Engage and Adore us on The Facebook, The Twitter & Instagram: www.facebook.com/MusicBiz101wp twitter.com/MusicBiz101WP instagram.com/musicbiz101wp/

I think we can all agree that 2017 was an unusual year. It was intense, confusing, emotional. A little less than a year ago, as I decided to resume another “season” of episodes, I was determined to focus on community and on positivity through art and creative expression. At least, that’s what I told myself, and it’s also what I told you. In the introduction to the first episode of 2017, an interview with jazz club owner and musician Spike Wilner, I said  “I want to look at the role of community in supporting individual voices and in contextualizing those voices.” As the year quickly comes to an end, I decided to look back at a year’s worth of episodes to see if I delivered on that promise, and to figure out what were the big questions and the major themes that emerged. With the benefit of even just a little bit of hindsight, I can see that indeed the theme of community informed the whole journey. Featuring Spike Wilner, Michael Dorf, Adam Schatz, Dave Jemilo, Ben Wendel, George Colligan, Irv Williams, Mark Davis, Jeff Hamann, Andrew Crocker, Peter Giron, Billy Peterson, Benji Rogers, Ralph Simon, Ryan Gruss, David Garibaldi, Jack Stratton.  www.third-story.com

PledgeMusic founder Benji Rogers is now one of the pioneers leading the charge of utilizing blockchain technology in the music industry. Some, like him, are leveraging the technology to empower current industry stakeholders; others see it as a major potential disruption. Rogers joins us to talk about his start-up, Dot Blockchain Media, the potential for blockchain in the music industry and others, and a lot more. With a catalogue of successful co-writes with major recording artists, Emma-Lee is now focusing her attention on her own music and career. Her latest EP, Fantasies: Volume 1, finds her incorporating elements of pop music into her country music foundation. She joins us to talk about the difference between writing for herself and writing for others, her new home in Nashville, and more.

Benji Rogers is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Pledge Music.com Pledge Music is a global direct-to-fan platform that helps artists raise funds and create excellent pre-order campaigns. Benji Rogers is also an accomplished musician and has been through the major label system himself. But now he is predominantly focused on helping ‘creatives’ raise the money required to bring their projects to life through his Pledge Music platform. So I encourage all of you to check out the cool shit going on over at https://www.pledgemusic.com/ Today, when I looked you’ve got artists like Black Sabbath using the platform right down to a stack of indie acts I’ve never heard of. Anyhow check out Pledge Music! Website: www.musicbusinessfacts.com Facebook: facebook.com/musicbusinessfacts Twitter: twitter.com/musicbizfacts  

YouTube video here! Topics Include: --"How Blockchains Are Funding Musicians" --"The dotblockchain Music Project" --"The Music Industry Has No Assets" --"Solving Problems in the Music Industry" About the Guest: Benji Rogers is the Media CEO and co-founder of PledgeMusic which is one of the leading, global direct-to-fan platform. PledgeMusic is dedicated to empowering artists, labels and brands to build communities, fund and pre-sell recordings, and provide unique experiences and exclusives throughout the entire music production and promotion life-cycle. If you like this content, please send a tip with BTC to: 1444meJi7YjgQGNg3U8Z6qYZFA5cgz4Gmj More Info:TatianaMoroz.comCryptoMediaHub.comVaultoro.com dotblockchainmusic.com pledgemusic.com Friends and Sponsors of the Show:TheBitcoinCPA.comCryptoCompare.com FreeRoss.orgThirdKey.SolutionsSovrynTech.com SexAndScienceHour.com

Our guest this week is Benji Rogers, British-born, New York-based entrepreneur, technologist, musician, and the founder of Pledge Music. As an early pioneer of the direct artist-to-fan model of distributing music, Benji founded Pledge Music based on the belief that artists should share the process of their artistic output, not just the finished product. In addition to his work with Pledge, Benji is also the co-founder of the Dot Blockchain Music Project, an attempt to create a decentralized global registry of music rights using blockchain technology that will overhaul the commercialization and movement of music online. We had a great chat with Benji about Pledge Music, the importance of superfans, and the advice he'd offer to musicians and music industry entrepreneurs. Highlights: - Benji schools us with a Michael Bolton related Office Space quote - Marcio shares his personal experience of Pledge Music with Benji - Benji shares how the team are the key to Pledge Music’s success - “Technology is a huge... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After founding Pledge in 2009, Benji has served in numerous capacities including CEO and President. He now serves as board member and advisor alongside CEO Dominc Pandiscia. Having just acquired NoiseTrade and Set.fm, Pledge is one of the leading artist-to-fan platforms today, with over 3 million users and over 50,000 artists. Notable artists such as The Lumineers, Lindsey Stirling, Megadeth, The Pixies and others have lead to over 300 top 40 albums since 2011.http://www.pledgemusic.com/

My guest today is Benji Rogers, the Founder of Pledgemusic and Co-Founder of the Dot Blockchain Music Project. Digital music is a mutation. Like a virus, it adapts, looking for new ways to be consumed, defying efforts to be fixed in some predictable context. Zeros and ones phantasmagorically appear and recede across networks, bought, sold, streamed and shared. Artists have little control over where their creations travel, how they’re used, how they are mutated by others. Rights, ownership information, sales data and payment are managed by multiple entities in the music business who often have competing agendas. Releasing music into the digital world can be a bit like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into a vast, wild sea. So how can this all be made more transparent? How can permanance and mutability co-exist? Enter the Blockchain. The .BC Music Project is the first attempt to use Blockchain technology to create a global, decentralized database of music rights wherein a song cannot be separated from its usage rights and still be played. There’s the transparency and permanence. If you haven’t heard of Blockchain, it is basically a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records called blocks. So you write a song, and create a block with data about the authors, who played on it, who the publisher and record company is. Once data is entered, it cannot be altered retroactively - BUT as rights or usage rules evolve over time, the information can appended, and there’s a record of who changed it, and a validation process to make sure the changes are true. So along with permanence and truth, you get mutability. There is huge enthusiasm around .BC Music, and the project recently announced partnerships with its first industry partners: Canadian Music Rights organization SOCAN, CD Baby, MediaNet, Songtrust, and FUGA. But Benji and his partners at the Dot BC Music project are not the first people to try to fix the morass of problems in digital music. There have been many other industry initiatives going back nearly 20 years that have tried and failed to solve these issues - so in our chat, I pressed Rogers to outline exactly why Blockchain technology and his initiative are different and why they might finally be the beginning of a very bright future indeed for the music business. Benji and I sat down at Ludlow House on the Lower East Side for this chat. So pull up a chair with us and listen! Dot Blockchain Music: http://dotblockchainmusic.com PledgeMusic: http://www.pledgemusic.com Open Music Initiative: http://open-music.org Imogen Heap Mycelia: http://myceliaformusic.org The Failure Of The GRD (Global Rights DataBase): http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/08/the-failure-of-the-global-repertoire-database-effort-draft.html The Secure Digital Music Initiative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_Music_Initiative Benji Rogers on Twitter: @BenjiKRogers  

Music Business Keys To Success with Rodney HolderWhen it comes to business success, the entrepreneur path is essential. Most musicians are recognizing that more and more as time goes by. One of the premier places where musicians have experienced insights into how to take their careers to new levels was the Music Launch Summit, created by my good friend Steve Palfreyman last year. There, over 50 of the world's biggest names in the business came together to help musicians grow. Rodney Holder was a standout in that series.I was both an attendee and a masterclass speaker. Being in that summit with many of my good friends and colleagues including Carlos Castillo, Wendy Parr, Yann Ilunga, Benji Rogers, and Cari Cole, it was incredible to experience the insights of so many really incredible people.After watching Rodney's session, I knew I had to talk with him. Not only is he a fellow drummer and Australian (I love the Aussie's!!!), but his methodology of relationship building, learning from experience (which includes embracing failure) and the power of mentorship are hallmarks of what make for uncommon people.A Little Insights Into Rodney HolderRodney is certainly uncommon. You can sense that in every response to my questions in our conversation. He's also someone who has taken the process of growth and used each experience to bring a new piece of insight to share. That's really a remarkable element to the science of growth.He's a podcast host of Music Business Facts, the top music podcast in Australia. He's also a metal drummer in  Alchemist Tripsis (so he's got serious skills behind the kit) and seasoned musician. He also teaches Music Business Studies at Taffe University in Australia.What I Learned From Rodney In This PodcastI'll be honest, one of the best things about hosting the DIY Artist Route Podcast is getting to learn first hand from some amazing people. I know a lot about how to build relationships and a good bit about radio. But I don't know everything about either of those subjects. And there's a TON of stuff in the industry I don't know. That's why having conversations and asking good questions are important (if you want help with asking the right questions, reach out to me and we can talk).Sometimes we learn things by how they're phrased. For us creative entrepreneurs, the business side of what we do involves positioning our creations as products. Did you know that every aspect of your creation is a product that you're offering to your audience? It's like Rodney tells us“You are a product, your songs, your shows, your work are all products.”Kinda different way to think about things, huh? You are a product, not just what you make. That's a game changer, and it's just the tip of the iceberg.3 Keys To Music SuccessOne of the big questions, that was kind of a trick (oops, you caught me) was when I asked Rodney if there was just 1 thing you could do to become successful today. In my experience, there's not magic button that if you master it, all your cards will always be winners.No poker hand works like that. Life doesn't either.On the flip side, there are a few ingredients that typically produce great results the more you do them. Three of those are hard work, continually putting yourself out there (marketing, outreach, gaining experiences), and luck.Wait,

Benji Rogers was an ex sound-man, bartender, and broke 34 year old musician who was sleeping on an air mattress in his mother’s spare room, when he had a vision. Eight years later, he’s one of the most innovative, outspoken leaders in the music business. As he tells it, he has led a “very full life” and he always had an extremely active mind. That’s very clear in this conversation. In 2009 Benji launched Pledge Music, a website that connects artists to fans. What started as a small startup with a few ambitious and curious partners living on different sides of the Atlantic has become a major leader in crowd funding for music. 3,000,000 fans and over 50,000 artists have contributed to Pledge Music campaigns. In recent years, the list of notable artists has swelled and many chart topping projects have been launched through Pledge. Benji subsequently launched other businesses. His latest project is Dot Blockchain music. How did Benji make this incredible transition into the world of music business technology, how does he think about his role in the business, and what lessons did he bring with him from his musical life into the world of startups? Also, what is EBITDA? www.third-story.com

Music Biz 101 & More is the only radio show in America that focuses on the business side of the music & entertainment worlds. Hosted by William Paterson University's Dr. Stephen Marcone & Professor David Philp, the show airs live each Wednesday at 8pm on WPSC-FM, Brave New Radio. In this episode, Benji Rogers speaks about Blockchain - what it is, how it works, and what it means for the future of the music industry. He also talks about PledgeMusic's various services and much more. Enjoy the talk, listener tweets, and see what you can get out of this. Like what you hear? Tweet us anytime: @MusicBiz101wp Engage and Adore us on The Facebook, The Twitter & Instagram: www.facebook.com/MusicBiz101wp twitter.com/MusicBiz101WP instagram.com/musicbiz101wp/​

This interview was originally published on August 10, 2015, as HTE 112: Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable Between the conversation about the merging of art and commerce, and Benji’s mindset of learning to become comfortable being uncomfortable. This conversation dives into the essential required for gaining the perseverance necessary to push through the hard times. --- My guest today is the President and Founder of PledgeMusic, a direct-to-fan company that offers musicians a unique way to engage with their fans during the music-making process. He is an independent musician who received the A&R Worldwide Digital Executive of the Year award in 2014 and appeared in the 2013 Billboard 40 Under 40 Power Players list. My guest's recent engagements include keynote addresses and panels at events such as Canadian Music Week and GRAMMY Camp. He also gained a position on the Board of Directors for the Future Of Music Coalition this year. Now, Let's hack... Benji Rogers. My guest's recent engagements include keynote addresses and panels at events such as Canadian Music Week and GRAMMY Camp. He also gained a position on the Board of Directors for the Future Of Music Coalition this year. Now, Let's hack... Benji Rogers. Now, Let's hack... Benji Rogers. Benji Rogers. In this 36-minute episode Benji Rogers and I discuss: How Benji had stayed incredibly restless The true power of having advisors Learning to become comfortable with being uncomfortable Being an entrepreneur is about entering a space of uncertainty Let your team push you to better places, ideas, and outcomes The Show Notes Pledge Music Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Benji on Twitter Jon on Twitter Exclusive Sponsor:

This special episode of STEAL THIS SHOW features Benji Rogers of the direct-to-fan music platform, PledgeMusic. As we find out, Benji’s an independent musician who founded his platform to offer artists a unique way to engage...

Today's guest is the amazing Benji Rogers. Benji is the Founder of Pledge Music, a direct to fan music platform that is best understood as the "kickstarter for music". Benji is on the show today to teach us how to build a fan base, well actually even Super Fans, before you even release your album. It makes the release so much more successful when you follow his formula for building your fan base.  

Benji Rogers is my guest this time and this is one of the best episodes for any DIY, unsigned or indie musician to hear.Why?Benji dives into 2 of my big mantras, one being the absolute power of growing your audience base one fan at a time. Two, he identifies specifics behind what you can do to connect with the members of your audience who matter most: your super fans.This is the tip of the iceberg, so listen to the podcast for the fullness.Benji Rogers is the founder of the crowdsourcing platform PledgeMusic. He's also a huge music super fan himself and a really cool industry pro to connect with.

Benji Rodgers, Founder and CEO of Pledge Music shares the best ways to reach and grow your fan base, how the Pledge community assists its artists with campaigns, and the benefits of using a fan-funding platform like Pledge. This is THE podcast to find out about the ins and outs of crowd funding from the creator of one of the biggest platforms out there!MX4 participants on the call: Eddy Walda, Greg FosterLinks mentioned: PledgeMusic.com Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/cbemusic)

Benji opens up with 3 life highlights that got him and his company where they are today.He then shares ways artists can benefit from using Pledge.Benji shares the best practices for using Pledge as an artist, how to interact with  your fanbase and how super fans are the ones that you are truly appealing to and the other fans will still be regular customers.MX4 participants on the call: Eddy Walda, Greg FosterLinks mentioned: PledgeMusic.comSupport the show (http://www.paypal.me/cbemusic)

Benji Rogers is the founder and president of PledgeMusic, an online music platform that allows artists to pre-sell, market, and distribute recordings, music videos, and concerts directly to their audience. Links, Resources & People Mentioned PledgeMusic Biography of Abraham Lincoln Limewire Kazaa Jayce Varden Malcolm Dunbar Rupert Selby Benji Rogers - @BenjiKRogers Omer Khan - @omerkhan Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the podcast Leave a rating and review Follow Omer on Twitter Need help with your SaaS? Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support. Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue. Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Benji Rogers is the founder and president of PledgeMusic, an online music platform that allows artists to pre-sell, market, and distribute recordings, music videos, and concerts directly to their audience.Links, Resources & People MentionedPledgeMusicBiography of Abraham LincolnLimewireKazaaJayce VardenMalcolm DunbarRupert SelbyBenji Rogers - @BenjiKRogersOmer Khan - @omerkhanEnjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the podcastLeave a rating and reviewFollow Omer on TwitterNeed help with your SaaS?Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Episode #3: This episode of the Future of What focuses on "Direct To Fan" sales, which have exploded in recent years thanks to the internet. Jessica Boudreaux and Marc Swart of Summer Cannibals and New Moss Records talk about their merch strategies as both band and label. James Reling from Kill Rock Stars speaks on his super-fandom and which artists in particular he follows intently. Ben Hubbird of CD Baby explains the changing role that the company has played since their inception in 2003. Tim Bierman, manager of the Pearl Jam "Ten Club", talks about the importance of giving fans what they want when they want it. Benji Rogers of Pledge Music ends the episode with an explanation of how Pledge Music is different than other crowd funding sites, and the importance of engaging the "super fans".

Benji Rogers is the President & Founder of PledgeMusic, an online D2F music platform allowing artists to pre-sell, market, and distribute their projects. In this WeSpin Recipes conversation, Benji talked on differences between PledgeMusic and crowdfunding websites (and why they don’t consider themselves as one), giving “superfans” an opportunity to spend more on you, and why artists should think like tech companies. Listen to this 30 min episode to learn more not only about PledgeMusic, but the new ways to engage and monetise your fans. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr21 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. NOTE: This podcast was renamed from WeSpin Recipes to Music Growth Talks after episode #85.

Benji Rogers founded Pledge Music to help musicians and fans share in the experience of creating albums. 6 years ago when Benji started Pledge Music, there were fan-funding platforms popping up left... So what's it take to be Indie anywho? www.cdbabypodcast.com

Andrea Leonelli from Digital Music Trends interviews Pledge Music. 01:00 What are the updates with Pledge Music on the product front? 02:14 What changes did Pledge Music have to make the service more suitable for the labels. 03:18 Have the artists evolved in the way they approach their campaigns? Specially those who are on their […] The post Midem 2014 Pledge Music interview with CEO Benji Rogers and A&R Paul Barton appeared first on Digital Music Trends.

For the first installment of Digital Music Monthly, F#’s Kenn Richards sat down with head of Pledge Music’s Benji Rogers to discuss the current state of the industry and how Pledge is thinking outside of the box by reconnecting fans and musicians to create memorable experiences and lasting music. Pledge Music is a direct to fan platform that brings artists and fans together allowing fans to be a part of the creation process. And through fan support Pledge artists can make the music they want without having to rely on the labels that tell them no; it’s a new day and the possibilities are endless! And with that, take it away Kenn… _ Appendix to Podcast Reddit AMA with Benji Rogers of Pledge Music www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1x9zjl/ Benji's first band: Ben Rogers Band renamed Marwood http://www.marwoodmusic.com/ http://www.pledgemusic.com/artists/marwood Awesome Pledge Music Projects: www.pledgemusic.com/projects/buzzcocks www.pledgemusic.com/projects/rickieleejones www.pledgemusic.com/projects/gingerbaker www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jackbruce www.pledgemusic.com/projects/benfoldsfive www.pledgemusic.com/artists/marwood

My guest is Benji Rogers, CEO/founder of Pledgemusic.com, a platform that bridges the gap between musicians and their fans. Check out http://www.pledgemusic.com/ Wikipedia: PledgeMusic has successfully helped fund a number of artists' projects, with more than 82% of projects launched on the site successfully reaching their fundraising target.[2] Some of these artists include: Alien Ant Farm Archive Ben Folds Five Brigade Bruce Foxton [3][4] Charlie Simpson Daniel Bedingfield [5] Dave McPherson David Wax Museum Duke Special[6][7] The Defiled Earthtone9 Emmy the Great Esthero Flotsam and Jetsam[8] FM[9] For a Minor Reflection Funeral for a Friend Gang of Four[10] Ginger Grammatics Hawthorne Heights Headstones Helen Marnie I Like Trains IAMX InMe Jack Bruce Janet Devlin Joe Brooks Juliana Hatfield Langhorne Slim Firehorse Luke Bryan Madina Lake Martha Wainwright Matthew Mayfield Natty One Minute Silence Poets of the Fall Rachael Yamagata Reef Rhett Miller Ringo Deathstarr Secondhand Serenade Sylosis TAB the Band Tarja Turunen Teddy Geiger Terra Naomi The 69 Eyes The Blackout The Blood Arm[11] The Damnwells The Libertines The Lumineers The Tea Party Tina Dico The Rasmus The Subways Timo Tolkki Vertical Horizon Zee Avi